Doing laundry is perhaps one of the most hated chores performed in households. The gathering, sorting, washing, drying, folding, ironing and returning of the clean clothes to their storage location is a difficult, time consuming, and ever-repeating task. In most instances, laundry areas are not located right next to storage closets. In such instances, when clothes are removed from the washer, the user is typically forced to put the clothes in a basket, spread them out on top of the washer or dryer, or hang them on the back of a chair. None of these solutions are ideal, as the clothes tend to get more wrinkled, perhaps get dirty, or make the laundry area look unorganized or unattractive. The same problems are encountered when ironing clothes away from a closet area as well.
Several attempts have been made in the past to provide a means for conveniently hanging clothes outside of a closet during laundry procedures. U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,748 in the name of Fabian discloses a foldable hanger assembly for mounting on a wall. The assembly includes an elongated housing to which is pivotally connected a hanger arm that is stored in the housing when not in use. The hanger arm is dropped to a horizontal position for supporting clothes hanger or the like and a brace is hingedly positioned at one end on the hanger arm and the opposite end thereof is slidably engaged with the housing at a point intermediate its length. Unfortunately, this prior art example is not portable and requires a large amount of wall space for mounting.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,065 in the name of Olson discloses a portable clothes hanger to suspend articles of clothing for drying, displaying, or storing purposes. The hanger includes a center support member which may be suspended from a shower curtain rod, a door, or other fixture. A base is coupled to the lower end of the center support member and a plurality of arms are pivotally coupled around the base. The arms may be positioned in a parallel relationship with the center support member for travelling or storage, or pivoted into a nearly horizontal, radially extending position such that articles of clothing and the like may be draped over each arm. A pair of clips are slidably disposed on each arm and are operable to secure such articles to their respective arms. Unfortunately, this prior art example consumes a lot of space in both an open and a closed position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,812 in the name of Demarest describes a self-contained, portable dryer for use in drying articles of clothing. The apparatus includes a hanger bar with telescoping segments for selective collapse and extension, and a plurality of hangers stored within the telescoping segments and retrievable from within the hanger bar for erection and suspension from the hanger bar in one of two selectable configurations to accommodate the various articles of clothing ordinarily washed or rinsed out by travelers and hung out to dry at facilities available to such travelers. Unfortunately, this prior art example is not provided with a means for easy installation.
None of the prior art particularly describes a portable clothes hanging rod for use during and after laundry procedures. Accordingly, there exists a need for a means by which laundry on hangers can be temporarily hung in an easily accessible location without the disadvantages as described above. The present invention satisfies such a need by providing an apparatus that is convenient and easy to use, lightweight yet durable in design, and designed for hanging clothes outside of a closet. The portable clothes hanging rod provides a means for a wall-mounted apparatus that can be folded down in order to hang clothes straight out of the dryer to keep them wrinkle-free until they can be stored in a closet. The present invention is simple to use, inexpensive, and designed for many years of repeated use.